Caught In My Web
by riddlemethis212
Summary: Just a story about your friendly neighborhood- you know the rest.
1. Chapter 1

"I'm not afraid of you. I'm bigger, stronger- UNCLE BEN!"

Beca jolted back towards the wall of her bedroom when the spider on her desk began to scurry from side to side.

Hearing footsteps rush upstairs, through her peripheral vision, Beca saw her uncle stop at the doorway.

"What is it?" He asked rather alarmed.

"Spider- it's on my desk!"

Uncle Ben rolled his eyes and placed a calmed hand over his heart while he picked up a slipper from the floor and slapped it down on the eight legged arachnid.

Beca breathed a sigh of relief and patted her uncle on the back as if he just defeated the worlds most powerful villain.

"Nicely done."

Uncle Ben shook his head as they exited the room with the slipper, "You do know they're more scared of you than you are of them, right?"

"Listen," Beca laughed, "if it were up to me, the whole house will be up in flames just to make sure the thing was dead."

"What's with all the screaming?" Aunt May asked from the kitchen when she saw her two favorite people descend from the stairs.

Beca breathed in the delicious aroma of her favorite meal being cooked: spaghetti and meatballs. The teenager walked into the kitchen and sat at the kitchen island, prepped and ready for dinner.

Uncle Ben joined her after wiping the slipper clean.

"There was a spider epidemic." He informed, Aunt May nodded with a chuckled "Ahh."

"Well, dinner's ready. You arrived just in time." Aunt May served two scoops of spaghetti onto a plate followed by meatballs before she placed it in front of Beca.

"So, Bec, you ready for your first day of senior year tomorrow?" Uncle Ben asked as he swirled the noodles around the fork before stuffing them into his mouth.

Beca swallowed her food before answering, "I'm just waiting to get outta there, honestly."

"What's the rush?" Aunt May asked.

"High school's a drag." Beca shrugged. "Nothing interesting ever happens."

"Well, who knows, maybe that'll change this year." Uncle Ben said with a squeeze on Beca's shoulder. Her uncle was always filled with wise words and wisdom and Beca was just hoping he was right.

* * *

Midtown Science High School. Filled with despair and cries for attention. "Notice me, notice me!", pretty much summed up everyone's high school experience. Midtown was a prestige school of science and, to be honest, as to how half the people even got accepted here was a wonder to Beca.

So when she walked through the front doors and after being greeted by Betty at the reception desk, Beca dragged her feet over to her locker on the West wing.

Beca hung up her book bag and stacked her notebooks in the order of when she had the class based on her schedule. She glanced at the inside of the door of her locker and pursed her lips at the picture of her parents in their lab coats. The photo was taken ten years ago when she was 8 but it never felt that long ago. She reached up to trace her finger across the photo _-_

Suddenly a basketball came flying towards her, slamming her locker shut before ricocheting off of it and bouncing off her head. Beca's chest heaved as she caught her breath from the scare. She didn't need to turn around and survey the halls to see who the culprit was, Beca knew exactly who it was and she was hoping he would've at least waited until fifth period.

"Welcome back, Mitchell. How was your summer?" Bumper Allen grinned wickedly at the short brunette that he's been bullying ever since they were in grade school. His teammates stood behind him, laughing and pointing at Beca who finally managed to regulate her breathing.

"Not long enough, apparently." Beca answered with a grin.

Bumper bent down to retrieve his basketball while Beca opened up her locker again to grab her Math notebook. She reluctantly glanced over at them and immediately regretted that decision when Bumper faked a pass at her, making her jump slightly.

Beca slammed her locker shut and sighed heavily as she walked away from the chuckling basketball players.

Yup, it was great to be back.

* * *

The next few periods went by rather quickly, much to Beca's liking. She found herself some time during her free period and went out onto the quad and sat at a vacant table near a tree that shaded over her. With her Nikon camera in her hands, Beca raised it and took a few photos of the students.

Beca shifted from her place on top of the table and focused her camera when she recognized the girl sitting at a bench reading while her friends talked beside her. Beca snapped the picture and lowered her camera, smiling to herself before stealing another glance at the redhead that she's been pining over since freshman year.

"Becaw!"

"Ayo, shorty!"

Beca turned around and smirked at the sight of her best friends running over to her.

"I haven't seen you guys," Beca said, squinting when the sun shined down on them, "Almost forgot about you."

"I know," Jesse sighed as he plopped down beside Beca's legs on the bench, "I got put into the classes at the other side of the school for my first three periods. I barely even have time to breathe with this schedule."

Beca chuckled and turned to Amy, "What's your excuse?"

"I overslept." Amy laughed, "But aren't I in your Chem lab second period?"

Beca nodded. Amy hummed and shrugged after saying there's always tomorrow.

"So what were you doing?" Jesse asked as he leaned back with his elbows resting on the table. Amy stood beside them with her back against the tree.

"Taking pictures, the usual." Beca grinned, slyly looking across the quad at a certain redhead who was still intrigued with her book.

Jesse rolled his eyes but smiled, "Have you heard back from The Bugle?"

Beca sighed, "No. I'll probably heard over after school. I really want that job!"

"Didn't the last photographer leave crying?" Amy asked.

Jesse laughed, "Yeah. Something about Jameson lowering his sense of self-worth."

"Thanks for the boost of confidence, guys." Beca deadpanned.

"You're welcome." Jesse and Amy said in unison.

They shared a laugh before they saw students running towards the pond in the middle of the quad where they began to chant, "Eat it! Eat it!"

Beca frowned, "What the hell?" she hopped off the table and began to walk over to the group of people while Jesse and Amy followed close behind her.

When they pushed their way through to the center of the circle, they were able to see Bumper hovering a freshman over a plate of food.

"C'mon! Eat your vegetables!" Bumper laughed. He looked up and saw Beca standing there, "Yo, Mitchell, get a picture of this."

Beca shook her head, "No, dude. Just put him down, come on." she looked down at the freshman and gave him a reassuring smile as she mimed for him not to eat the food.

Bumper glared at her, "I wasn't asking, dweeb! Take the fucking picture!"

"Dude, I'm not taking the picture!" Beca yelled over the chants that began to shout for her to take the picture. At the corner of her eye she saw a redhead, a blonde, and a tall brunette push their way through the crowd and Beca sighed to herself.

Bumper pushed the freshman's face further into the food, "Fine, be the hero."

When Beca saw the freshman begin to spit out the food, she marched over to Bumper and tried to pry the freshman away. Bumper swung his arm to the side, shoving Beca to the ground with a thud and an audible crack coming from her camera that was in her hand.

Jesse and Amy dropped to their friend's side, checking if she was okay before glaring up at Bumper who smirked down at them once he dropped the freshman to the ground.

"No one likes a hero, Mitchell." Bumper gloated, making his way out of the huddle.

"No one likes a jackass, Eugene." Beca shot back. Jesse and Amy shot her a look that said "Why did you say that!"

The crowd erupted in a chorus of, "Ooh!"

Bumper spun on his heels, "Alright, tough guy-"

Beca braced herself for the worst when a particular redhead came in between them, preventing Bumper from coming any closer to Beca and her friends. Jesse helped Beca up to her feet while Amy crossed her arms and glared at the basketball player.

"How about you get to class, Bumper. Hm?"

Bumper scoffed, "Chloe, are you serious-"

"Very." Chloe said sternly. She watched Bumper mutter under his breath before pushing through the crowd of people that quickly dispersed when they saw a dean walking by.

Chloe looked over at Beca who ducked her head and bit her lip in embarrassment before her friends Aubrey and Stacie came to pull her away.

"We gotta go!"

"Come on!"

Amy turned to Jesse and Beca and ushered them to walk away from the scene.

"Go go!"

* * *

In her English class, Beca dropped down into a seat in the back with Amy sitting beside her. The blonde watched her best friend nurse her camera with a saddened face.

"I thought that was great, by the way."

Amy and Beca looked forward where Chloe had been sitting in the desk in front of them.

"It was stupid but it was great." Chloe added with a wink.

Amy hid her smirk behind her hand as she looked over at her friend to see what response she would give to her long time crush.

Beca opened and closed her mouth a few times before she cleared her throat and settled with a simple nod.

Chloe smiled, "What's your name?"

Beca frowned, "You don't know my name?"

Chloe lulled her head to the side, "Of course I do. I just wanna make sure that _you_ know your name. You took quite the fall, just following protocol, is all."

Beca smiled and nodded, "It's Beca...Beca Mitchell."

Chloe returned a smile, "Good."

"You're Chloe, right?" Beca squinted her eyes and pretended to rub away a pain at the back of her head.

Chloe giggled, "Uh huh. Chloe Beale."

"Alright." Beca nodded, bringing her gaze back down to her camera that had a broken lens.

Chloe frowned at the item, "Are you able to get that fixed?"

Beca looked up, "Yeah, no. It's no big deal."

"Alright, class," Mrs. Grey stepped up to the black board and faced her students, "let's begin."

Chloe winked once more before turning back around and opening her notebook, leaving a giddy brunette sitting there with a smile on her face.

Amy nudged her friend on the arm, "I see you, Romeo-"

"Shh!" Beca hissed.

* * *

After school, Beca and her friends were entering the Daily Bugle office building in Manhattan. The lobby had high ceilings and framed page 1's with headlines from previous newspapers.

They walked into the elevator and went up to the last floor where the editor was stationed. To say that Beca was terrified was an understatement. She had nerves in her stomach and a chilling feeling running down her spine as she prepared herself to meet the man responsible for many photographer's crushed dreams and spirits.

Beca gulped as they reached the floor.

"Ready?" Jesse winced.

"Not at all." Beca said but she started walking anyway.

"YOU'RE FIRED!" The teenagers flinched at the sudden shout coming from Jameson's office.

"Jonah, we're reaching the deadline for page 6 and you fired everyone else in his department." A woman at a desk said rather calmly. She must deal with this on the regular.

Jameson huffed, "You're rehired, get back in here!" They disappeared back into his office but Beca and her friends were still able to see them through the clear glass doors.

"Can I help you?"

They turned to the woman behind the desk, Gail Brooks, and Beca smiled nervously.

"Um, I sure hope so."

Jesse raised a hand in front of his friend, "She's here to see Jameson."

Gail eyed the teenager carefully, "You're Beca Mitchell?"

Beca nodded.

Gail looked impressed, "Your photos are great." she complimented, Beca smiled shyly.

"Thank you."

Gail straightened out a pack of paper before standing up and rounding her desk to lead the teenagers towards the editors office.

"Jonah, Beca Mitchell is here to see you."

With Beca in front, Jesse and Amy stood behind her as the three of them looked forward at the man behind the excellence of The Daily Bugle.

J. Jonah Jameson sat at his rectangular desk, cigar hanging out of his mouth, feet propped up in a crossed position on his desk and Beca can notice the slight tears on the headrest of his leather chair.

"Who?" Jonah asked as he took a puff. He waved away the man he was previously yelling at, watching him scurry out of his office before he turned back to the teenagers.

Gail motioned for Beca to introduce herself before she returned to her desk.

Beca cleared her throat, "I'm Beca Mitchell. G-Great to meet you, sir."

Jonah narrowed his eyes and pointed his cigar at her.

"You submitted the photos of the pigeons and old people playing chess in the park." His voice was mocking, as if he's seen it all before.

Beca scratched the tip of her nose, "Well- yes, um-"

"Listen, Bella-"

"It's Beca-"

"The Daily Bugle covers _real_ stories. So when you have a _real_ story to present to me," Jonah interlocked his fingers on top of his desk as he swung his legs off and hunched forward, "then I'll consider hiring you."

Beca nodded, "Yeah. Yeah, okay." she paused, "I have lots to say I'm just saving it all up."

Jonah smirked and nodded towards the door, "I'm sure you are. Close the door on your way out."

Beca and her friends left with their tails between their legs.

"I hope I'll see you soon," Gail said, "Your photos are good."

* * *

Later that night, Beca was fiddling with her broken camera in the living room when Uncle Ben came down the stairs.

"Hey, kiddo."

"Hey." Beca replied distracted, she rubbed her thumb against the lens and frowned when the damage was worse than she thought.

Uncle Ben caught a glimpse of it and took a seat next to her.

"What happened to your camera?"

Beca averted her eyes, "I dropped it on my way home."

Uncle Ben looked at her unconvincingly, "Don't lie."

Beca rolled her eyes, "I'm not. It fell."

Uncle Ben, for a moment, decided not to pry until he looked down at Beca's elbows. His frown deepened when he saw a few scrapes from where she had fallen earlier that day.

"You scratched up your elbows pretty bad there."

Beca looked down, not having noticed it until now, "Yeah well, you know. I'm a teenager...clumsy."

Uncle Ben sighed, "Yes or no. Do I have to call someones father?"

Beca shook her head, "No no. I'm okay."

Beca wasn't the one to cry for help or to even seek it for that matter. But that doesn't mean that it was never offered to her, Uncle Ben knew this and he knew Beca was a strong kid. But that doesn't make him any less worried.

"Alright." Uncle Ben quickly changed the subject, "Help me unload some boxes downstairs, would you?"

"Sure." Beca placed her camera down on the couch beside her before she stood up and followed her uncle down into the basement.

Beca helped him with the heavy ones, filled with his trophies and Beca's old science awards. She lifted a box of her softball equipment that she hasn't touched in years, but lost her footing when she tripped over something under a raggedy throw blanket.

Beca lowered the box onto the floor and bent down to pick up the blanket, confused to see an old briefcase that she's never seen before. She picked it up and the letters R.M. were engraved on the scratched up patch on the flap.

"Richard Mitchell." Beca said her dads name and a chill rushed through her. With curiosity clouding her judgement as to why her aunt and uncle would neglect to show this to her, Beca slowly made her way back upstairs; cautious as she prepared for whatever they would throw at her.

Uncle Ben and Aunt May were in the kitchen, Beca only heard parts of their conversation.

"These are my bowling trophies." Uncle Ben said as he presented his first place trophy.

Auny May shook her head as she continued cutting up some fruit for the fruit salad she was making.

"Oh, then by all means. Keep those filthy boxes in my kitchen."

Beca lingered in the doorway of the kitchen, her eyes locked on her father's briefcase while she waited for someone to notice her.

It was Aunt May who noticed her presence in the room and just before she could ask her niece if she wanted a strawberry, her eyes darted down to the object in Beca's hand and she suddenly went pale.

Uncle Ben saw his wife's horrified face and turned to look at Beca and quickly caught on.

"Man," He laughed nervously, "I haven't seen that old thing in years. It was your dad's."

Beca nodded because, duh, she already knew that. What she wanted to know was why it was hidden away in the basement.

"Figured." Beca muttered. She opened up the flap and dug inside to investigate the contents.

"Why was it in the basement?"

Uncle Ben sighed, "Outta sight outta mind, I guess." he and Aunt May watched Beca pull out a newspaper cut out of a photo and Beca glanced over it before she held it out to them.

"Who's he? With dad, who's the guy?" Beca asked, her voice was small and hushed. She had so many unanswered questions about her father, about her parents in general, and she just felt like she barely knew them at all. She always catches herself asking other people about her own parents, by this point she just accepted the fact that other people just knew them better than her.

Uncle Ben glanced over at Aunt May who subtly shook her head.

"A man who worked with your dad, I guess." Uncle Ben said.

Beca scanned their faces, she knew they were hiding something. She looked down at the photo and dropped it back inside the briefcase just as Aunt May walked over to usher her back upstairs to wash up.

* * *

"I'm sure it's for good reason, Becs." Jesse said trying to reason with his best friend who was pacing his room that night while Amy searched through the briefcase she brought over. The blonde examined a folder and scrunched her face when the symbols and some Decay Rate Algo-whatever just looked like a foreign language to her. Not wanting to read through the entire thing, she took a quick picture and set it aside.

"What is there to hide about my dad?" Beca asked, "The dude was boring, he didn't have a life outside of his work."

"That you know of." Amy chimed in, "Who knows. Maybe he's Batman."

"What?" Beca asked without the smallest bit of humor in her voice.

"Maybe he has a secret that they don't want to tell you just yet." Amy elaborated, hoping they would catch on to her metaphor.

Beca plopped down beside Jesse, "Whatever. If they won't tell me, I'll figure it out on my own."

"How, exactly?" Jesse scrunched up his eyebrows as he watched the gears in his friends head turn.

Beca bit her lip and looked down at the photo she had in her hand. Surely there had to be some sort of clue that she looked passed.

And, alas, she found one written underneath the photo.

"Amy, google: cross species genetics experiment."

Amy swiveled around to face Jesse's computer and typed the words into the search engine. A few links popped up, the first one being off the Oscorp website so she clicked it.

"Oscorp. Isn't that the sciencey building downtown."

Beca looked over her shoulder and took control of the mouse.

"Norman Osborne is the CEO," Jesse said, "his son Tom goes to Midtown with us."

"That's him!" Beca pointed at the photo of the man identical to the one standing beside her father in the newspaper cut out.

"Dr. Curt Connors." Amy read.

"I have to meet him." Beca muttered. She continued to scroll down the page, "There's an internship tour tomorrow."

"Damn," Jesse sucked his teeth, "too bad you're not on the list."

Beca exchanged a knowing look with Amy who had the same idea in mind. They turned around to Jesse and grinned at him.

Jesse frowned, darting his eyes at both of them. Confused at first but with their mischievous grins it wasn't long before he caught on.

"Oh god."


	2. Chapter 2

"Remind me again _why_ I agreed to this." Jesse walked behind Beca who gazed in amazement at the high ceilings and holograms from inside the Oscorp building. While Amy strayed to the side beside Jesse wearing her molecule t-shirt because she thought it would be fitting to their afternoon plans.

"Because we keep your life interesting," Amy answered, "You would've been in your room playing Grand Theft Auto if it weren't for us."

"Point taken." Jesse snickered. It was true, there was never a boring day when he was with Beca and Amy. It's a good and bad thing. Does he see himself being held in a prison cell in the near future because of these two, sure! But if anyone asks, he never did it.

"Now, where do we-" Beca was looking around until she spotted the receptionist, "Ah! Here we go."

They approached the desk and the woman behind it looked away from her computer, her glasses perched at the bridge of her nose and a bored expression on her face.

"Can I help you?" She asked dryly.

"We're here for the internship." Beca said. The woman nodded.

"You'll find yourselves to the left." Just as she was going to get back to whatever she was doing on the computer, when the teenagers made no sudden movements, she turned back to them.

"Sorry?" Jesse asked, confused.

"You'll find your _badges_...to the left." The woman clarified. She darted her eyes in the direction of the badges organized in rows to the left of her.

Amy was the first to analyze them. Knowing well that their names weren't going to be on any of them, Amy was quick to choose three names they could each pass off. Apologies in advance to Debby, Mark, and Bailey.

"Have a swell day." Amy smiled, patting the receptionist's desk before ushering her friends towards the escalator.

"Bailey." Amy pinned the badge onto Beca's blue flannel and turned to Jesse next, "Mark." Pinning his onto the chest of his green hoodie. Leaving the last badge to be pinned on her shirt.

"And Debbie." Amy finished with a proud smile.

Beca high fived her for her fast thinking while Jesse just silently prayed that they won't get caught.

Once they reached the floor where the rest of the interns were, they lingered in the back of the crowd in a huddle.

"So what's the plan?" Jesse asked.

Beca shrugged, "Let's just see what happens."

Jesse jerked his head back in panic, "You mean- so there's no plan?"

"I didn't think we'd get this far!"

Amy hushed them when the crowd suddenly went silent. They faced forward when someone began to talk in the front of the group and Beca nearly choked on air when she recognized the voice and the familiar red hair.

"What is _she_ doing here!" Beca whispered.

Jesse and Amy tried to conceal their laughs behind their hands while Chloe introduced herself and finally led the group to a room behind her.

"Here," Chloe began, "is where the magic happens. Experiments are tested and researched in this room. Hopefully soon a handful of you will be assisting in a few of them." She winked at the group, gaining a few lingering gazes that didn't go unnoticed by the redhead.

"She's so hot." On guy said.

"Brains and looks? Call me blessed." His friend whispered.

Beca rolled her eyes, "Give me a break."

Jesse smirked, "What? Jealous that other people are admiring your girlfriend?"

"Careful, Jesse," Amy chimed in with a smile, "she's not her girlfriend."

Jesse snapped his fingers, "Right, because Beca's taking things slow." he teased.

"Four years is slow enough, don't you think, Jesse?" Amy placed her hands on her hips.

Jesse nodded, "Definitely."

"I'm disowning the both of you." Beca deadpanned.

The laughter died down as they brought their attention back to the front where Chloe continued to talk about the types of experiments and gadgets that Oscorp has conducted over the years and recent ones that they've been working on.

Chloe glanced to the side and smiled at a familiar face.

"Chloe." The man greeted.

"Dr. Connors." Chloe gave him a curt nod and a smile.

Jesse gave Beca a nudge and Beca nodded, Amy's eyes widened in realization when she recognized him to be the man in the photo.

"You all must be the potential interns," Dr. Connors said, "Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"I was just about to show them the Tree of Life." Chloe said, holding her clipboard flush against her chest as she looked up at her mentor as he surveyed the group of students.

"Ah," Dr. Connors raised his eyebrows in interest, "I'm sure you all know the idea behind the Tree of Life. How I want to make a world without weakness. Anyone want to venture a guess as to how?"

One student raised his hand, "Stem cells?"

Dr. Connors slowly nodded, "Close. But not exactly. I'm thinking of something more...radical."

No one seemed to know any other possibility that would cross this genius' mind. But lingering in the back of the group, behind Jesse, Beca bit her lip because she had an...idea of what he could be looking for.

"No one?" Dr. Connors smirked.

"Cross species genetics."

Everyone slowly turned to gaze over at the person that spoke. Jesse and Amy slowly allowing a window to open between them where Beca could be seen in the back. The brunette looked up, a bundle of nerves erupting in the pit of her stomach when she saw all the eyes staring at her. Two blue ones in particular looking at her with wonder.

Chloe looked down at the name sheet on her clipboard and nowhere did she find Beca's name written down. So she looked up and grinned at the brunette.

Of course Beca did her research on Dr. Connors before she got here, and the idea he had on cross species genetics, so she elaborated.

"Take someone with parkinsons for example," Beca began, "They develop parkinsons when the brain cells that develop dopamine begin to disappear. Then when you look at a...a zebra fish it has the ability to regenerate cells on command." Beca took a pause and glanced over at Chloe who was smiling, astonished, "You give this person that same ability and...well, they cure themselves."

Dr. Connors smiled, impressed.

"Just look passed the gills on their neck." Someone added.

Dr. Connors raised a hand that silenced the laughter that followed.

"And you are?"

Beca opened and closed her mouth for a moment, unsure of how to respond to that question. What if he knew her by just her name? What would he say? Or maybe he wouldn't know her. But then again she could just say the name on her badge- no, but then Chloe might-

"She's one of Midtown Science's best and brightest," Chloe answered. Beca and her friends looked over at the redhead who kept her gaze fixated on the brunette, "She's second in her class. After me, of course."

"Second?" Beca smirked, "You sure about that?"

Chloe nodded, "I'm pretty sure."

Amy pursed her lips, "Am I the only one that thinks we're getting off topic?"

Dr. Connors chuckled lightly, "Yes, actually. I must be going. Thank you...Debby." he smiled at Amy after he looked at her badge.

"Who?" Amy frowned before she looked down at her badge, "Oh! Right, that's me. Of course."

Jesse lowered his head, one arm crossed while the other propped on top of it with his hand covering his face.

Beca looked over at Chloe who raised a questionable eyebrow, with a tight-lipped smile Beca looked away.

Dr. Connors soon made his way down the hall and left Chloe to continue the tour.

"If you'd gather around." Chloe clicked a few buttons on the pad in front of her, a hologram emerging from the screen on the floor. The students surrounded it in amazement which gave Chloe the opportunity to approach the three friends who were in the process of making their quick escape.

"Not so fast."

They slowly turned around and smiled sheepishly at the redhead who crossed her arms.

"Hi."

"Hey, red."

"'Sup, Chloe."

"...Hi..."

Chloe took a few steps closer to them, an eyebrow raised as she read through their badges.

"Debby. Mark. Bailey." Chloe chuckled, "What's the story?"

Jesse and Amy were quick to give Beca a push forward.

Beca glared at them before clearing her throat.

"They're helping me...with something that I can't tell you about."

Chloe smiled, "And why not?"

Beca clicked her tongue, "That...is an excellent question."

Chloe narrowed her eyes and smiled at her antics, "I'll it slide this one time, _Bailey_. But you guys can't stray away from the group, don't get me into trouble."

Beca shook her head, "No no, of course not."

Amy and Jesse smiled at the redhead as she walked back to the group to lead them into another room.

"That was close-" Beca went to turn around when she collided with a man causing the files in his hands to flutter to the floor, "Oh, man. I'm sorry."

Beca bent down to pick up one of the folders, papers were sticking out from the sides and Amy immediately recognized the symbol printed on one of them. Acting quickly while Beca muttered another apology, Amy pulled out her phone and brought up the photo of the symbols she took from one of Beca's dad's notes.

"Look." Amy whispered as she showed them the photo just as the man was turning away.

Beca looked at the two circles in Amy's photo and compared it to the ones she had just seen.

"We gotta follow him." Beca whispered, her eyes following the man in the suit who was making his way down the hallway.

Jesse blinked and shook his head, "No. We're gonna get in trouble- Chloe just told us not to stray away from the group!"

Amy and Beca quickly rounded the corner by the time Jesse finished talking, with an eye roll Jesse followed.

"Dammit."

* * *

Beca peered around a corner of the hallway, Amy and Jesse pressed up against her back to get a view of the man.

"What's he doing?" Amy whispered.

Beca ignored her as she fixated her eyes on the pattern he was putting into the keypad on the white door in front of him.

They watched the door open with a puff of air, two other men in white suits coming out and the man gesturing for them to follow him down the next hallway.

Once the coast was clear, Beca waved for her friends to follow her. They approached the door and Beca took one look at the keypad and clicked the pattern she saw the man put in, smiling once the door opened with a green light on the keypad.

"The gates shall open."

"This is a terrible plan." Jesse said as he followed his friends inside.

"It's a fun plan." Amy smirked.

From the other side of the door, they wouldn't have expected to find such advanced technology. The room was polished white, conveyor belts of small pellet containers. Mechanical arms stretched out mechanical cables that were similar to a spiders web, a video displayed on a small screen underneath it showing how it was able to pull the weight of an airplane.

"This is insane." Beca marveled at the gadgets and toys around her, her hands just itching to analyze each and every one of them.

Beca looked up when she saw a blue light illuminating off of her and her eyes twinkled with curiosity as she entered the second room.

Jesse looked away from Amy who was trying to pick up one of the containers and turned around to see Beca entering the room.

"Beca!" He hissed, quietly chasing after her but stopping at the doorway once he saw what was inside.

Beca walked along the aisles of spiders crawling up their webs on dozens of rotating pillars. These spiders were vibrant blue, something Beca has never seen before and her curious mind transmitted to her hands that reached over and pulled at a string of web.

"Don't touch!" Jesse panicked.

"Nothings gonna happen-"

"Uh..." Amy pointed up and Beca followed her finger just as the rotating blocks came to a stop with a gust of air.

"Oh god.." Jesse's voice cracked.

Beca gulped as she saw the spiders above her come to a stop. Just when she thought everything was fine, she felt something drop into the collar of her flannel and her head.

" _Fuuuuck!_ " Beca yelped. She swatted away the spiders that were falling from every direction, the feeling of tiny pitter patters on her arms made her squirm which only made it worse as the spiders managed to crawl all around her.

"Pull her outta there!" Amy cried.

"No way! You pull her out!"

"No!"

Beca backed up against the wall, swatting away what appeared to be the last of the tiny menaces. Traumatized, Beca slowly made her way out of the room where her friends looked at her with wide eyes.

"I've," Beca panted, "seen enough. Let's go."

"Playing video games all day doesn't sound so bad now, does it?" Jesse mocked.

* * *

They walked back into the work space where they last left the group in hopes of being able to just slyly rejoin them in the next room but when they walked further inside, Chloe stood in the middle with her arms crossed.

"Uh oh." Amy and Jesse muttered.

Chloe walked up to them and turned to Beca.

"Chloe, we can-"

"Don't wanna hear it. Give me the badges." Chloe extended her arm, her hand opened to retrieve the badges that were reluctantly placed into it.

Beca stuffed her hands in her back pockets, "Sorry."

Chloe sighed and shook her head as she turned on her heel and returned to the tour.

Beca hung her head in shame while her friends patted her on the back.

"Well that's that horse shit I be talking about." Amy sucked her teeth.

Beca sighed heavily, "Let's just go- _Ow!_ "

"What is it?" Jesse asked in concern, not seeing anything that could have caused his friend any pain.

Amy raised an eyebrow as she looked over her friend as well.

Beca shook her head, "N-Nothing." she said, her hand rubbing at the back of her neck.

* * *

On the train ride back home, Beca was laying with her head on the bench while her legs were stretched out on Jesse's lap. Next to Jesse, Amy sat with her head tilted back. The teenagers had fallen asleep at some point during the train ride, exhausted from their visit to Oscorp.

A man was standing in front of the three, his hand lazily holding onto the pole for balance when he turned to look down at Beca. He took one glance at the bottle in his hand and another glance at Beca before he smiled and bent over the girl with the bottle hovering over her forehead.

Testing the laws of physics with pure determination, he steadied the bottle on Beca's forehead and slowly moved his hand away and watched it balance perfectly.

Beca's eyelids began to twitch and suddenly her hearing focused on the sound of the droplet of condensation trailing down the surface of the bottle until it dripped onto her forehead.

Feeling the sudden wetness reach her skin, her eyes popped open and she leaped off the bench, startling her friends along with the other passengers.

Jesse and Amy blinked away the sleepiness in their eyes and were momentarily stunned when they couldn't locate their friend. They looked around at everyone else and saw them all gazing up, Jesse and Amy flickered their eyes upward and gasped when they saw Beca clinging upside down on the train ceiling.

"Beca?"

Beca lifted her fingertips and in a second she found herself falling and landing on her back.

In a state of surprise she propped herself on her elbows while the woman she had been beside sucked her teeth in annoyance.

"Fuck, now I smell like beer!" She whined.

Beca stood up in a swift motion.

"I'm so sorry about that." Beca apologized with a gentle hand on the woman's shoulder. But when she tried to remove it, it wouldn't budge.

The woman looked at her with an awkward stare and the man who had been drinking the beer walked up beside them.

"Get your hand off her!"

Beca panicked, "Dude, I'm trying. I don't understand- wha-?"

The man shoved Beca aside, the woman's shirt tearing off her body in the process. Everyone looked over at Beca in shock mixed with fear. Jesse and Amy watched with their mouths agape.

"I am so so sorry." Beca tried apologizing again before she found herself being pushed once again.

"What's your problem!" The man shouted. He went to shove Beca again but the brunette found herself twisting his arms and flinging him across the train against the bench.

Beca flinched, "Aw shit- I'm sorry!"

Something shifted in her head and Beca was suddenly dodging another body running towards her from the back. Causing a man to run into the pole that Beca was now propping her feet on while she hung onto the bar above Jesse and Amy who were too busy watching the scene in front of them.

Beca landed back down, her hand wrapped around the pole as she bent down to check on the man with the bloody nose.

"Dude, are you okay?"

Another switch of surface and Beca was spinning around the pole with her legs outstretched and kicked away yet another passenger that tried to attack her. Beca try to pull away from the pole but when her hand appeared to be suctioned onto it, her brows furrowed.

"What the fuck?" With one more pull, Beca pulled off the pole from it's screws and banged one end against the first man's head. By this point, the entire train was gaping in shock. Beca looked around at everyone and shook her head because she couldn't explain herself. She felt the pole slide off her hand and as the conductor announced that they were arriving at the next stop, Beca looked at her hand with confusion when she couldn't detect anything that could've caused this.

* * *

"I have a question," Amy finally broke the silence when the three of them arrived at Jesse's house. "What the fuck just happened?"

Jesse looked at Beca who was lingering by the wall.

"Bec?"

Beca shook her head, "Hell if I know."

Amy blinked, "Were you not- that's all you have to say? You did some acrobat shit back there, things I've never even expected _you_ to be capable of, Miss. I-Don't-Exercise." Amy laughed, completely stunned by what just occurred. She turned to Jesse.

"I mean you saw that, right? I'm not crazy?"

Jesse blinked a few times, "I'm...still stuck on the fact that Beca was clinging to the ceiling, so."

Amy flailed her arms around, "This needs to be discussed!"

Beca subconsciously rubbed the back of her neck when she suddenly blinked in realization.

"Hold on a sec." Beca excused herself as she went to the bathroom, leaving her best friends to finish processing what they had just witnessed.

In the bathroom, Beca looked at the mirror and let out a long breath of air as she mentally pleaded for what she was currently thinking to not be true.

With a shaky hand, Beca reached behind her neck where she felt around for what had caused her pain earlier. She felt a bump in the center and moved her fingers down her neck when she felt something sticky and stringy. With a scrunched up face she pulled at the string in the bump and flinched at the irritating pain that followed.

"Please no please no." Beca muttered as she pulled the substance forward where she could see it. There in her hand was a web. Against her back as she did so, she felt something bump against her skin and with a gulp she continued to pull the web forward until the worst was confirmed.

There dangling in front of her, was a dead spider.

"Guy's," Jesse and Amy turned to look at Beca who appeared in the doorway and gasped, Beca stood there with the web between her fingers and the spider swaying in the air, "We have a serious problem."

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys. I'm posting two chapters just to see if you all like where it's going so far. If you do I'll continue posting. Let me know! Leave some reviews! I wanna hear some thoughts and/or ideas so drop em there**

 **xoxo**


	3. Chapter 3

Beca couldn't sleep that night. It was like everything was turned up to its max, on high volume and Beca could barely hear herself think. She was sitting in her bed, hugging her knees close to her chest when she heard a soft flutter in her ear. Beca whipped her head to the side to look out her window and there she saw a bird descending from the sky to perch itself on the portico. The bird eyed her curiously, its head twitching as it hooted. Beca scrunched her eyebrows in confusion, it was as if the bird knew something was off with her, like there was a change in natures balance.

Beca's eyes flicked away from the bird when the activity coming from outside was hard to ignore. She heard the soft chimes coming from the neighbors wind chime, she felt the presence of someone across the street throwing out their trash, and Beca whined when she flinched at the sound of a fire truck from two blocks away.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

"Beca, honey. Time for breakfast!" Aunt May knocked on her nieces door and smiled when she heard Beca groan from inside her bedroom, "Up and at 'em, sweetheart. Greet the day with a smile!"

Once Beca was sure her aunt had gone back downstairs, she took a moment to stare blankly at the ceiling. Her eyes were bloodshot and her stomach was growling like she's gone weeks without eating.

When she heard footsteps leaving the kitchen and making their way towards the stairs, Beca pushed herself up and quickly got dressed before meeting her Uncle Ben who went to knock on her door.

"Oh!" Uncle Ben said startled when Beca suddenly opened the door, "Come on, kiddo. Or you'll be late to school."

"I just need to brush my teeth." Beca smiled at her uncle as he patted her head affectionately.

The teenager made her way into the bathroom and with a sigh she leaned against the sink, thinking the feeling of cold water would help wake her up. She reached for her tooth brush and leveled it in front of her with the toothpaste she was holding, with what she thought was a light squeeze of the tube, a glob of paste shot out of the nozzle and landed on the mirror.

Beca glared hard at the nerve this toothpaste had to add on to her list of why was already hating this day. She scooped up the toothpaste and sighed.

When she turned the faucet, the handle came off in her grip and before she had the time to look down at it confused, Beca was splashed in the face with uncontrollable sprays of water.

" _Fu_ -! You've got to be kidding me!" Beca shielded herself behind her arm as she reached for the towel rack beside her. Pulling at the soft material, she heard a clank as the rack dropped to the floor when she retrieved the towel.

Beca brought the towel over to the faucet and stopped the water from spraying, with a relieved sigh she backed away from the sink. She put the toothbrush in her mouth and looked around at the bathroom, the floor was wet and things were broken. She was better off finishing downstairs in the kitchen.

* * *

"Why are you all wet?" Aunt May asked once Beca walked into the kitchen in drenched clothes.

"The, um, faucet in the bathroom like popped off," Beca explained, "So weird." She went over to the sink and finished brushing her teeth, thankful that the water was already on.

Uncle Ben frowned, "Hm. I'll take a look at it."

"Here, honey." Aunt May placed a plate of eggs, sausage, and toast in front of Beca, "Eat up before school."

Beca's eyes bulged in hunger as she dug in to devour the food. Uncle Ben and Aunt May watched with amusement.

"Careful, Beca! You'll choke!" Aunt May shook her head and smiled as she turned to take a seat, her elbow tapped against Beca's cup of coffee that she had set out for her and just when she thought it was bound to shatter and splatter the caffeine all over the kitchen floor, Beca swooped in effortlessly with one hand as she caught the mug in midair.

"Wow, nice catch!" Uncle Ben said as he raised his mug.

Beca laughed nervously, "Thanks." she cleared her throat and stuffed her face with the remaining of her breakfast before she scooped up her plate and mug, drinking about half of the coffee, before she placed everything in the sink.

"Bye!"

"Have a great day, honey!" Aunt May called after her.

Uncle Ben watched his niece leave in a hurry and chuckled lightly.

"Wonder what's got her in such a rush."

* * *

Beca stood in front of her locker, her headphones hanging around her neck while she hummed softly along to the song flowing out of them. She stacked her math book inside and pulled out her Chemistry notebook to get ready for her lab in ten minutes.

"Oye, Shorty!" Amy came up beside her with Jesse who looked around for any onlookers.

"Have you been feeling okay?" Jesse asked, trying to act concerned but his overall interest with the fact that his best friend was just bitten by a radioactive spider made him internally squeal with excitement.

Beca looked at him confused, "Yes?"

"Excuse me," Amy lightly nudged her, "Need I remind you what happened over the weekend?"

"Don't hold back, Bec," Jesse bit his lip with anticipation, "We want all the details!"

Beca sighed, amused, "Fine." she paused, "Things are...changing." she said in a hushed tone as she shut her locker so the three of them can proceed down the hall, "I couldn't sleep last night because it was like everything was heightened. I was so aware of everything and it freaked me out! Not the mention I broke the faucet this morning trying to brush my teeth."

Jesse and Amy looked at her with shock before they jumped in excitement, earning a few glances and stares from their fellow peers.

"Do you know what this means?" Jesse asked as they pushed through the set of double doors to enter the next hallway where Beca and Amy's lab was located.

"What does it mean?" Beca asked, deciding to humor her friends.

"You have abilities, Bec," Jesse said, "Sticking to surfaces like in the train, improved agility, heightened senses, and the strength to apparently tear off a faucet!"

"You're basically half spider, Shorty." Amy chimed in.

Beca raised an eyebrow, "We don't even know the side effects to being bitten by the spiders. For all we know, all this shit happening could be symptoms that lead to like...-"

"Alright," Jesse stopped her there, "Let's not think negative. But you're right, we should learn more about this. Maybe meeting with Curt Connors would be a good idea now."

"But before we do that," Amy grinned, "let's have some fun."

"Oh boy." Beca sighed as Amy ushered her into their lab room while Jesse panicked at the sound of the bell and began sprinting his way to the other side of the school for class.

* * *

"Rejected!"

The gymnasium echoed Bumpers triumphant cry, making several people glance over at the basketball players in time to see the basketball, that had been intersected by Bumper, bounce its way towards a girl hunched over a large banner that she had been painting.

The girl gasped when the ball knocked over her can of blue paint, the thick liquid smearing over the center of the banner, leaving a massive blob that left the phrase _Go, Tigers!_ hard to read.

Bumper and his friends snorted at the sight of the girl scrambling off the floor.

"You did that on purpose, Bumper!" She cried.

Bumper scoffed as he went to retrieve the ball, "Not at all. But I should've. Maybe next time you'll take the arts and crafts back to the art room."

The girl rolled her eyes and frowned at her ruined banner.

Over by the bleachers, Beca and her friends had seen the entire scene unfold and the brunette holding her now fixed camera shook her head and sighed.

"He needs to be put in his place."

"No kiddin'" Jesse responded, watching the basketball player dribble the ball as if he owned the court.

Amy hummed, "Hm. Remember when I said we should have some fun?"

Beca and Jesse nodded while they waited for Amy to elaborate.

"I think," she pointed towards the girl who seemed to have given up on her banner, "you can start by helping her out over there."

Not entirely understanding where Amy was going with this or even understanding what Amy thought was going to happen, Beca handed Jesse her camera before she walked over to the girl who she then realized to be Julie from her history class.

"Hey, Julie." Beca smiled as she bent down to picked up the knocked over can of paint.

"Hi, Beca." Julie offered the photographer a small smile.

"Bumper's a jerk. Don't give him the satisfaction of showing you care by throwing in the towel with your banner. Make an even better one." Beca winked at her before she stood back up straight while Julie hid a blush by ducking her head.

Something began to tingle against Beca's temple and before she knew it, she found herself reaching to the right and grabbing the basketball Bumper had purposely thrown over to them.

Beca brought her hand back to her side where she looked down at the ball suctioned to her fingertips. She looked down at Julie who stared up in wonder, she looked over at her friends who were watching engagingly to see what Beca was going to do next.

Beca heard Bumper clear his throat and she turned around, seeing him gesture for her to pass him the ball. His face was scrunched up in annoyance, obviously pissed off that his joke didn't follow through.

"Give us back the ball, Mitchell. Some time today would be nice."

An idea popped in her head and Beca grinned as she walked over to the half court line.

Bumper's eye slowly following her movements as he tried to figure out what she was planning.

"I got a better idea, Bumper." Beca smirked. She slapped her hand mockingly against the ball in her hand, "Try taking it from me." she challenged.

Bumper and his teammates snickered at the brunettes boldness but out of pure amusement and interest in seeing where this would go, Bumper stepped up to Beca and smirked down at her.

"Have it your way." Bumper said.

Beca felt a shift, a force about to come at the object she was determined to keep away from him. With a swift motion, Beca brought the hand holding the ball behind her back where she caught it in her other hand just as Bumper went to reach for it in its previous location.

With a blink of confusion, Bumper looked at her with narrowed eyes. He heard his teammates chuckle lightly and suddenly this wasn't a game anymore. He wasn't about to let Beca undermine his ego.

So when he went for the ball again he was shocked to have walked right into Beca's trick once again as she raised the ball behind her.

"Am I too fast for ya, dude?"

Bumper huffed, "Just give me the damn ball." he lunged forward but Beca was quick to act and pretended to throw the ball over his head with a swoop of her arm, making Bumper do a full spin around, looking confused when he didn't see the ball.

"I told you to take it." Beca said as she bounced the ball off Bumpers back, making the basketball player jerk in surprise before he growled and spun back around.

"Fine. Here." Beca took a step towards him with her arm stretched out but Bumper kept his eyes trained on the brunette as he suspected this to be another one of her tricks.

"Just take it." Beca insisted, making sure her fingertips were firmly pressed against the ball.

Bumper huffed and rolled his eyes, reaching over to take the ball out of her hand and go back to his team only to be pulled back when the ball wouldn't budge from her grip.

Bumper placed his other hand on the ball and tugged it forward, but to no avail. Beca was smiling smugly at him, she felt a rush of pride course through her as she marveled at the fact that she finally gained the upper hand.

"What's the matter?" Beca chuckled when Bumper began to slowly back away. She dribbled the ball a few times, pursing her lips as she showed Bumper that there was no reason why he couldn't pry it out of her hand. Well, to his knowledge anyway. But to hers and her friends, this was amusing to watch.

"Alright," Bumper grinned and he slapped his hands together in frustration, "Bring it! Come on, Mitchell!"

Beca didn't have to be told twice. She went off in full sprint while she dribbled the ball towards Bumper who was prepared and waiting to knock her off her feet. But once they came face to face, Beca flipped over him and with the ball over her head she dunked it through the hoop but her moment of victory only lasted up until the hoop came down with her. The glass of the backboard shattered upon impact with the immense force Beca brought upon it.

Everyone in the gym stopped and stared as Beca slowly looked up at the damage from her place under the hoop. Her flannel was coated in glass and she started to consider the fact that maybe she went a little bit too far.

"Well she had fun," Amy nodded, "that's what's important right?"

"I dunno." Jesse sighed ,"Ask her after she gets billed for destruction of property."

* * *

Beca sheepishly walked behind her Uncle Ben after they left the principle's office that afternoon. Beca knew the lecture that was coming, if not here, then later at home. But so far all she's gotten was a puzzled face that kept looking back at her and Beca knew she had disappointed her uncle.

"You gonna tell me what the hell that was about?" Uncle Ben finally said once they were near the exit.

Beca shoved her hands into her front pockets and swayed back and forth.

"It was...a freak thing. I dunno.."

Uncle Ben nodded but wasn't convinced.

"Let me ask you this, then. Was Bumper the one that broke your camera? Was this whole thing just to humiliate him?" Uncle Ben watched Beca's eyes flicker upwards to peer at his and he saw what he had suspected from the teenager: guilt but pure satisfaction.

Beca shrugged, "He deserved it." She confessed. Bumper has made it a hobby to make sure her days in school were miserable and now that he finally got a taste of his own medicine, Beca would be lying if it didn't make her feel good.

Uncle Ben sighed, "Maybe he did. But don't you think this makes you no better than him?"

Beca took a moment to consider her uncle's words before she shifted her weight from one leg to another, averting her eyes because too much eye contact was making her uncomfortable.

"It won't happen again." Beca muttered. Her eyes looked over her uncle's shoulder at the figure of a girl coming to a stop at the lockers behind them. The red hair was an identifier all on its own before the girl turned her head to show that it was Chloe.

Uncle Ben nodded, "Yeah, it better not." He squinted his eyes when he noticed Beca's attention was elsewhere. Looking over his shoulder, Uncle Ben smirked when he saw a rather pretty girl quickly looking away and pretending she hadn't seen them.

"That your girlfriend?" Uncle Ben asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk that Beca just wanted to slap off because he was being a bit too loud for her liking.

"No! God!" Beca hissed.

"Why not?" Uncle Ben pried, "You need me to put in a good word for you?"

Beca's face lit up in fear, "Absolutely not. No no, I'm okay."

Uncle Ben grinned wickedly as he began to step back, "Are you sure? We're Mitchell's, Beca. Lady magnets for generations."

Beca shook her head frantically, "Don't call it that- oh my god."

"Consider this your punishment." Uncle Ben whispered before he turned around to face Chloe while Beca bit her knuckles and spun around in her best attempt of pretending to not know who this man was.

"Hello. My name is Ben. Beca's probation officer." Uncle Ben smiled at Chloe who welcomed his greeting with a sweet smile. The small brunette she spotted through her peripheral vision shook her head with a hand covering her face.

"Hi, I'm Chloe." The redhead tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, smiling, she asked, "Um, probation officer?"

Uncle Ben grinned, "Believe it or not." He turned around to Beca who was hiding behind her hand, wishing her existence would vanish from the face of the earth.

Beca felt a hand on her shoulder followed by a whispered, "Since your stunt made me move shifts at work...you'll be picking up your Aunt May at 9. See ya at home."

Beca slid her hand down her face and followed her uncle with her eyes before she looked over at the redhead smiling at her, the look of amusement on her face made Beca's stomach turn and she wasn't sure if it was a good sign or if Chloe was just giving her pitty.

"Sorry about that." Beca apologized as Chloe walked up to her. "That, um, that was my uncle. He likes to think he's funny."

Chloe giggled, "I guess funny is another common trait you Mitchell's have aside from being _lady magnets_." Chloe gave Beca a suggestive grin before she burst out in laughter at the horrified face the brunette made.

"You heard that?" Beca shut her eyes and bit her lip.

"I heard a lot of things." Chloe muttered.

Beca laughed nervously and suddenly she wished she never listened to Amy.

"That's frightening." Beca averted her eyes, "Again, I'm sorry."

Chloe shook her head, "Don't be."

Beca couldn't decipher the look on Chloe's face. It was a genuine smile, yes, but there was something in her eyes that seemed to be asking for something. But Beca couldn't quite put her finger on what it could possibly be.

Chloe sighed through her nose and pointed behind her.

"I should get going then."

The redhead turned around, hesitantly almost, and Beca bit her lip because she wanted to ask her something. Actually, she's been wanting to ask her something for the last few years and when will she have this opportunity to do so? They were alone. No interruptions. The answer is never.

So Beca surged forward, a hand wrapped around the back of her neck while the other hung onto the strap of her back pack for support.

"Wait- um..."

Chloe spun back around, "Yeah?"

Beca blinked a few times and her mouth opened and closed as she searched for words that would be both comprehensible and smooth...or at least she tried.

"Do you maybe, uh...," Beca shrugged, "We could uh...I can- or we can um..."

Chloe smiled, "Are you asking me out?"

"Yes," Beca sighed, "I am."

Chloe lulled her head to the side as she enjoyed the sight in front of her. In truth, she's noticed the brunette for a while. Beca's talent with photography and the magic she makes with music has always drawn Chloe to the brunette. So she was more than happy to have Beca finally, sorta, ask her out.

"I'd love to." Chloe smiled.

Beca blinked, not expecting a positive outcome to her rambling.

"Really?"

"Totes," Chloe giggled, "Do you have anything in mind?"

"Dinner and a movie?" Beca asked with a shrug.

Chloe frowned, "You hate movies."

Beca grinned, "How'd you- "

"Bec, we've been classmates for a while. I pay attention." Chloe winked and Beca was surprised to see herself still standing because she was sure her knees went weak.

Beca cleared her throat, "Then, um, how about-"

"How about," Chloe jumped in with a hand reaching for Beca's arm, "I handle it from here. I'll text you."

Beca watched her pull out her phone and hand it to her. She typed in her number into Chloe's phone and the redhead smiled, telling her that she'd see her tomorrow. Beca stood there with a lingering smile on her face as she watched Chloe walk down the hall. Never would she have predicted this to happen and to think it was all thanks to Uncle Ben but she wouldn't tell him that.

* * *

Beca was sitting at her desk with her laptop open and her mixing equipment laid out in front of her. Her headphones were covering her ears and her eyes were focused on the screen in front of her.

"Beca?" A distant voice called for her.

The teenager's eyes flicked to the side as she felt her uncle's presence approaching her locked door. She reached over to the switch in front of her; the locks on her door were activated and Uncle Ben can hear the beep from the hallway just as he was about to knock.

When the door was opened, he peered inside and smiled at his niece.

"What're you working on?" Uncle Ben asked.

The music can be heard from the headphones that were now hanging around Beca's neck.

"Letting off some steam is all." Beca answered, "What's up?"

Uncle Ben glanced down the hallway and heard the distinct sounds of rustling in the kitchen, telling him that Aunt May was still out of ear shot.

"Listen, kiddo," Uncle Ben began, "I'm sorry about the whole brief case thing."

Beca shook her head, "No no. It's fine-"

"No, it's not fine." Uncle Ben perched himself on the corner of Beca's desk and laced his fingers together on his lap, "They're your parents and you deserve to know more about them."

Beca nodded as she waited for her uncle to speak. Her stomach was turning in anticipation as she leaned back into her chair, pausing her mix so there were no interruptions.

"Curt Connors is the man in the photo with your dad. Richard and Norman Osborn came up with the idea of cross species genetics. It was a pretty complex idea but when Norman got sick, Richard had Dr. Connors assist him with the project in hopes of healing Norman. When your dad...well," Uncle Ben gave her a knowing look and Beca nodded with her head down, "Dr. Connors apparently took over the experiment. With the same goal in mind, to my knowledge. Unless things have changed, I don't know."

Beca was slightly disappointed. The majority of what her uncle was telling her, she already found out on her own. But that can't be everything, can it?

"That's it?" Beca asked.

Uncle Ben shifted a bit and Beca noticed this subtle movement and before she could pry a little harder, Uncle Ben stood up and made his way to the door.

"Beca, all you need to know is that your father was a brilliant man. He loved his family, you meant a great deal to him. To grow up without him and your mother I can't even imagine how - I wish I could be more." Uncle Ben smiled at her, tapping the doorframe and turning to make his way back downstairs.

"Uncle Ben," Beca called out just as the man stepped into the hallway. He peered back inside and Beca smiled, "You and Aunt May are more than enough."


End file.
